The Official Blog of the Australian High Commission in New Zealand

business

Having done diplomatic postings to Jakarta and Honiara, I’ll be honest and say that Wellington seemed like a pretty boring option.

But after meeting a handsome Kiwi in the Solomon Islands, it came to pass that, in 2015, I followed that well-trodden path of Aussies who move to NZ for love.

Fortunately, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade saw fit to give me a posting. Unfortunately, the only job at my level was an economic and trade one. An area in which I had, at that time, very little experience or interest.

Australia and New Zealand are more than neighbours – shared values, a history of collaboration, and a degree of economic integration that is admired around the world make us partners whose future and prosperity are intimately linked. The strength of the bilateral relationship has been built on the good work of many, and foremost among the organisations making an important contribution is the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF).

Indigenous Business – In Conversation with Dr Donna Odegaard AM and Wayne Bergmann.

Welcome to Trans-Tasman Tales, the free podcast by the Australian High Commission in New Zealand.

In today’s episode we’re joined by Dr Donna Odegaard AM and Wayne Bergmann, two members of the Australian Indigenous business delegation which visited New Zealand between 28 January and 3 February 2018. The aim of the visit was to support closer ties with New Zealand’s Maori economy and to learn from the successes of Maori businesses.

Shortly after my arrival at the Australian High Commission in Wellington in January 2015, my colleague Nick Williams infected me with his enthusiasm for New Zealand’s Māori economy. Nick, a young Aboriginal man from Queensland, had been following the growth and success of Māori business and was interested in the opportunity for Australian Indigenous businesses to learn from their Māori counterparts.

Welcome to Trans-Tasman Tales, the free podcast by the Australian High Commission in New Zealand.

In today’s episode we’re joined by Mai Chen, Traci Houpapa MNZM and Louisa Wall MP to talk about gender, diversity and why it matters. This episode was recorded live at our Women in Leadership Speaker Series event in August.

Women in Business: Glass Half Smashed?

On 4 October, the Australian High Commission hosted a Women in Leadership panel discussion with three inspirational business leaders. From risk-taking and life-long learning to realising you can’t do it all, listen to Ann, Joan and Kate share their wisdom and humour with 250 of our closest friends.

Kate McKenzie

As Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics and a smart Kiwi, once said: “We haven’t got the money, so we’ll have to think”.

The principles behind Rutherford’s quote, while relevant globally, relate particularly well with Australia and New Zealand’s strategies and plans for competing and excelling in the increasingly resource hungry research sphere. This was reinforced at the recent annual eResearch New Zealand Conference in Queenstown, which brought together 171 researchers, infrastructure operators, developers, and strategists.

‘I am delighted to have David Thodey (Chairman of CSIRO among many other things) as a guest blogger this week, commenting on Australian and New Zealand cooperation in the area of innovation. David has trans-Tasman bloodlines and is utterly committed to the innovation agenda in our two countries’

This is the first in a series of regular blogs that the Australian High Commission in Wellington will present. These blogs will deal with issues as seen from a more personal perspective. It will not be just me who blogs on this site. It will also reflect the thoughts of other senior members of the High Commission and the occasional guest blogger. I will start with a few thoughts on the economic relationship between our two countries for it is this, and the people to people links, which is the bedrock.